First night on the road found me just outside of Roanoke, VA after a good day's drive. A busy little intersection off of I-70, with lots of places to eat. Not knowing the area well, I asked the desk clerk which would be a good choice, and was told that "Angelles Diner" has good food. Also, it was 'BBQ Special' night, and they would be offering ribs, brisket, and pulled pork dinners. So off I went to find Angelles.
Not too far up the road, and the parking lot was jammed, usually a good indication that the place has good food. And yes, the place was packed, with a pretty good wait for a table. So I decided to sit at the counter, which had one seat open, instead of taking up a table that could seat up to four just for myself. Took a few minutes for the waitress to come over, but once she did, the service was friendly and quick. I chose the pulled pork sandwich dinner, which came with fries and cole slaw. Unfortunately, the counter was tight, and I didn't get the chance to get a photo of the food. The pork was fine, slightly smoky, a little sweet on the finish, served on a warm potato roll with just a dab of a rather bland bbq sauce. A few generous drops of Texas Pete sauce fixed that! The fries were good; crinkle cut, served piping hot, crispy, just the right amount of salt, no ketchup needed. The cole slaw may have been the highlight of the meal. It was creamy and had just the right balance of sweet/vinegar flavor to really balance out the pork. Most of you know I have a lot of 'texture' and 'mixing' issues with my food, and although I wouldn't care for the mouth feel of it, I bet the slaw ON the sandwich would have been good. That's the good of the visit to Angelles, now you get the bad. Sitting at the counter, I could see all the 'cooking' being done, as you can see in this photo.
The place has two half size flat top grills, four deep fryers, a couple of warming pots for sauces, but nowhere did I see an oven, or any sort of steam table. From what I can tell, the only items that got 'cooked' on the flat top were burgers, bacon, chicken breasts, grilled cheese sandwiches, and eggs. So how do they 'cook' the rest of the menu? Well, I observed an order of meat loaf being prepped. Individual slices of the loaf, wrapped tightly with plastic wrap, are taken out of the fridge, placed on a plate, covered with the plastic wrap, and shoved into the microwave. And all of the 'sides', such as corn, beans, mashed potatoes, they're placed in little dishes, and zapped as well. In fact, the busiest appliance I saw there was the microwave! Now, the bbq items are smoked out back in an outdoor smoker; but so much of the food is prepped in the microwave that it's difficult to say what's being 'cooked' in this place, and what's being supplied by a food service company and just heated up. Not what comes to mind when you're talking 'diners', which traditionally do all the cooking on site. Let the eater beware, choose carefully here, or you'll be rewarded with what is basically a store bought tv dinner!
Friday night was dinner in Nashville at the Harp and Fiddle; I reported on this meal over on Facebook, so if you're interested, you can check my posts there. On Saturday, Karen joined me, and the food tour began with a place my friend Diane recommended, The Pub.
Located on 11th street, right downtown, this is a fun, lively, enjoyable English Pub. We had just finished touring the Country Music Hall of Fame, and it was lunchtime. So in we went. Light eating was our plan, since we were hoping to get bbq for dinner. So we started with a shared appy, their Bellhaven Beer Cheese spread. Nice sharp cheddar with Scottish Ale, served with pretzels, celery, carrots, and cucumber for dipping. Karen opted for water, while I spied an old friend on draft; Carlsburg! Hadn't had one of them for a long time, and it did not disappoint. Crisp, nicely chilled, good finish, it went well with the excellent cheese dip. For our lunches, we did salads, Karen had the 'Wedge", while I had the "Cranberry Pecan Salad". Took a while to arrive, but when they did, we had nice crisp fresh greens, just enough extras, and good dressings. Solid meal, just what we wanted at lunch.
Off we went to the hotel, unfortunately, although we got there almost an hour after 'check in' time, our room was not ready. The hotel made up for that with a couple of free drinks and appetizers, so we each had a Bloody Mary, which was outstanding. We later found out that the secret was the mix they use, a brand called "Zing Zang", which is surprisingly, low in both calories and sodium. It's apparently available at Wal-Mart and Target, so we're now in search mode!
Dinnertime came, and we set out to try Martin's BBQ, a highly rated place in Nashville. The line, however, to quote A Christmas Story, stretched all the way back to Terre Haute! We knew there was another location, out in Nolensville, so we headed out that way. Of course, when we got there, the line was just as long, and since we had tickets to the Grand Ole Opry, we chose to move on and grab a burger at Highway 55.
This is a franchise place, fairly new, and it's kind of nice. Clean, bright inside, decorated with faux Route 66 and 'cruisin' articles, it had the look of a place that only recently opened.
Found a table, and over came one of the very young folks working there with menus and a welcoming smile. Of course, burgers are the reason you come here. Karen opted for the "Andy's Cheeseburger" special, which came with fries and a drink. The waitress was happy to substitute half an order of onion rings for half the fries, which was nice. The burger actually came out looking like this shot from their menu.
I went for the bacon cheeseburger with fries. Like most places the burgers are all cooked the same way, well done, but they're not dry. Both burgers were juicy, hot, and well topped. The fries were thin crinkle cut, and were pretty good, as were the onion rings. Unfortunately, someone behind the line must have missed the 'bacon' on my order, 'cause there was none on my burger. When the waitress came over to check on us, we mentioned this, and within a few minutes, the Manager of the place was over, apologizing and offering us coupons for our next visit. Good service. We decided to treat ourselves to a small custard before we left.
Custard is really popular in the midwest, and there are chains that feature it predominantly on their menus. It's sort of like soft serve ice cream, but has egg in it, which gives it a softer texture and a more rich taste. Toppings were included, Karen had hot fudge and peanut butter cups, while I got cherries. Good way to top off a meal which we both enjoyed. Since this is a franchise, and a fairly new one, I'd say if you spot one of these places, it's worth a visit.
Sunday morning rolled around, and we had definite plans for breakfast in mind. One of those places that we don't have here on Long Island, the legendary Waffle House!
It's been a long time since I stopped at one of these places, I think it was when Billy was in the Marines and I visited him in Jacksonville NC, we went there for breakfast. We were up and out of the hotel by 8, and the place was already packed. This location was on the small side, there were only 3 tables and the counter. Fortunately, there were two stools at the counter, so we grabbed them and sat down. Got our menus, and gave them the once over.
Of course, breakfast is sort of their specialty, and they serve the full breakfast menu 24 hours a day. Coffee came, good, but not spectacular; hot, but a little on the weak side. Freshly brewed however, as we watched new pots being brewed the entire time we were there. We decided that we had to get a waffle; after all, the name of the place is.....Karen got hers with bacon, crispy, and I chose sausages. One of the fun things to do at this place is to watch the team behind the counter get the orders done. I counted 7 people working at this little place, and they were like a well oiled machine.
One person doing waffles; one cooking the eggs; one doing hash browns and other sides; one doing meats. And everyone pitching in on coffee, drinks, working the register, and cleaning up. Let me tell you, these people work damn hard, and are always moving. The fact that these tiny shops serve as many people as they do, and remain pretty darn clean is a testament to the employees. The food arrived, hot, and well cooked. The waffles? Well.....to be honest, not the best waffles in the world.
Karen's was a bit soft, with no crispiness to it; mine was better, but both lacked something in the flavor department. A little Vanilla in the batter would have gone a long way. Served with 'buttery spread' (?) and 'maple syrup', overall, they were okay. Karen's bacon was indeed 'crispy' and had good flavor, while my two small sausage patties had just the right amount of pepper to give them a little bite. For the first meal of the day, it was fine, and now we can say we've been, and don't have to return for a while.
After a bit of shopping for Halloween things for the grandkids, we went back to the hotel for a bit, where we had a cup of coffee and sat outside in the courtyard, enjoying the sun and the summer like weather. Around 11:30, my buddy Wayne texted us that he was at the hotel, and asked if we'd like to get lunch. A bit later, we met him, and headed back out on the road, to make a third attempt to eat at Martin's BBQ out in Nolensville.
This time, the food Gods were on our side, as we had just a short wait to order. At Martin's, you order at the counter, and a waitstaff brings the food out to your table.
Typical bbq stuff, ribs, brisket, pulled pork, with sides such as slaw, mac and cheese, green beans, bbq beans, the usual. Wayne chose the loaded baked potato, a huge spud topped with brisket, cheese, bacon, whatever they seem to have had lying around got tossed onto this bad boy. And, served with a pancake! Karen and I got a rack of baby back ribs, green beans, hush puppies, and house made potato chips. Wayne chose "Stewart's Cream Soda" for his drink, while I got "RC Cola"; both served ice cold in glass bottles. Wayne enjoyed his briskety potato. The brisket was moist, tender, well smoked, and needed very little sauce. Our ribs were, pretty good, but they'd been overcooked a bit. The meat had no 'tug' to get off the bone. In fact, while we were trying to cut the ribs apart, most of the meat just fell off into the plate.
Flavor was good, but not great; after all we'd heard about this place, I have to say, we were a little disappointed in it. The green beans, canned, were overly salty; for me to say that, you know they were too salty! The hushpuppies were pretty good, but, like the ribs, they'd been left in the fryer about a minute too long, as the outside was well past the 'golden brown and delicious' stage.
Flavor and texture were good, however, they were fine. The best item we had was the potato chips. They were crisp, warm, and had a touch of bbq seasoning on them. Overall, I'd go back, but I'd sure pass on the place if the line was as long as we saw over the weekend.
Dinner on Sunday was just a salad for Karen, and a bowl of onion soup for me in the hotel restaurant. Both were acceptable, with Karen's salad being the better of the two choices, as the onion soup was served lukewarm (heated in the microwave, I'd bet), and was rather bland. Dessert, however was good, a nice warm peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream Nice light dinner after two filling meals earlier in the day.
Monday's breakfast and lunch were supplied by the hotel to all of us who were doing the CPO Instructor School. Nice buffet at breakfast, eggs, bacon, potatoes, oatmeal, fruit, cereal. Pretty much whatever you liked. Lunch was a "Mexican" buffet, with salad, corn and bean relish, tortilla soup, and both chicken and beef fajitas. Both meals were just fine.
Dinner on Monday found us back at The Pub, as most of us from the Education Committee took our friend Connie Sue out for her birthday. There were 18 of us, and the staff at The Pub did a great job, given that they had about two hours notice that we were coming in. Since I reviewed this place at lunchtime on Saturday, I'll just say that all the food that was ordered that night was very good. Karen and I shared an appetizer, a 'Scotch Egg'. For those who don't know, this is a hard cooked egg, which is surrounded with sausage meat and then deep fried. Served with a little spicy mustard, it was a great starter, we really enjoyed it. And the Carlsburg was again terrific!
Tuesday morning came, and with it, Karen had to leave to get back to NY and a desk full of work. We again had breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the hotel, as we were teaching all day, and had a meeting at dinner time. However, I did slip out at lunchtime, since I had the afternoon off, and got my own lunch. Imagine my delight as we had been driving around the area by the hotel and spotted this:
Yeah, it's Jack. You've all heard about this enough from me, so I'll sum up the lunch in two words: Monster Tacos!
Back on the road Wednesday to get home, so nothing much to say about the food on Wednesday. Unfortunately, I stopped for the night in a very small town in West Virginia, and food choices were poor; McDonald's, Taco Bell, two convenience stores, and KFC. I caved, and went to KFC, only because for a limited time, they've brought back their 'Nashville Hot Chicken'. I'd tried this last summer and it wasn't bad. Three white meat tenders, doused with a pretty good hot sauce, served with dill pickles and a biscuit. Served the purpose, filled me up, and off to bed I went.
On Thursday, I'd timed my trip so that I would get home mid-afternoon, providing the traffic wasn't totally lousy. That put me on I-78 in Pennsylvania late in the morning, and after a quick stop for gas, had me passing route 100 in Trexlertown right at 12 noon. Some of you know what that means, I was at the right spot, at the right time, for a PA classic;
Yocco's Hot Dog King! This is a small chain, four or five locations, that's been around for 50+ years. They serve a very unique dog, a local variation of a chili dog. There's a sign that explains it pretty well:
Well done for sure, the dogs here have a real 'char' to the outside of them. A 'Medford' dog doesn't seem to be anything special, they're rather small, decent texture, but, like most dogs outside of the NY area, on the bland side. The charring of the outside definitely helps with the flavor. I got two 'with everything', a small order of fries and a drink. Total cost, $6.30, very reasonable.
The chili sauce is applied by quickly dipping the dog into the chili pot. It's applied very thinly all over the dog, as opposed to most places, where they dollop the chili on top of the dog. I pulled back the bun on one of these to give you an idea:
Looks icky, doesn't it? Yeah, it does. So here's tip number one; don't pull the bun back on a Yocco dog! Squirt a little mustard on it, as I did, and leave it like this:
Then just put your brain on hold, and enjoy it! The steamed bun is warm and has good flavor, decent texture, and goes well with the dog. The dog, as noted, a bit bland, but works well with the chili sauce, which is mild and more on the style of Cincinnati chili, savory, but not like hot Texas red chili. The onions are mild and add a nice crispness to the whole deal. You can get cheese on your dog, but from past visits I know it's just a slice of white American (which is just wrong; American cheese should be yellow) placed under the dog, not worth the .50c upgrade. However, you do need the mustard; without it, it's just not as good. The fries were thin crinkle cut, hot, crispy, just fine. I should note that on this visit, the dogs were good. Last time I was here, they hadn't been cooked quite enough, they were not really hot, and didn't have enough 'char' on them. I was disappointed, but this time, all good. Yocco's has a cool side dish for those of you who've had enough fries. They serve Pierogies!
And there you have it, the long tale of the food to and from Nashville. Fun trip, it was great having Karen with me for part of it. She's a great traveling companion, she puts up with all of my nonsense, is willing to eat at places she probably wouldn't visit herself, and supports all of my trips, blogging, and interests. Now time to give my stomach a bit of a rest before I venture out on the road again!
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